‘The biggest imperialist bullies get slammed first’

Iran decided not to wait until July 1, when the EU oil embargo comes into effect, instead imposing its own “boycott on the offending powers, starting with the two biggest imperialist bullies on the schoolyard,” journalist Webster Tarpley told RT.

­The British and the French "are now so weak that they can only act together,” he said. “They are a kind of an imperialist bicycle built for two. So they get slammed first.”

Iran also includes the Netherlands, Greece, Portugal, Spain and Italy on its list of those who might follow, he added.

Despite the fact that Iran announced its decision to cut off oil supplies to Europe last week, Tarpley believes the news comes as a surprise to Britain and France.

“The economic sanctions are a game that two can play,” Tarpley told RT. France and the UK "have not had time to carefully arrange the fallback options and alternative sources of oil.”